The Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas dedicates a permanent exhibit to President John F. Kennedy

Jason Barry, The Shorthorn staff

http://www.theshorthorn.com

On Nov. 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated as he rode through Dealey Plaza, also know as “The Front Door of Dallas.”

Since Presidents Day 1989, The Sixth Floor Museum has created a permanent exhibit to chronicle Kennedy’s life, death and legacy.

The museum is located in the former Texas School Book Depository where Lee Harvey Oswald took the fatal shots that killed the president. Evidence suggests the shots were fired from the sixth floor.

Inside, behind glass walls, a replica of the crime scene showcases how the boxes of books were stacked to create a rifle nest in front of the window the shot was taken from.

“Even though I’ve been here several times, that corner still gives me chills when I look at it,” 65-year-old Dallas resident Gene Harris said.

The rest of the sixth floor is filled with all-things-Kennedy, from his campaign trail and inauguration to some of the challenges he faced in office, such as the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Signage, pamphlets and circulars on the walls also show anti-Kennedy sentiment from Americans of the time.

“Not everybody was a Kennedy supporter,” said Ron Derrek, a 32-year-old accountant from North Carolina visiting Dallas on business. “Its cool that they show both sides and not just Kennedy supporters.”

The seventh floor of the museum houses temporary exhibits. Currently a 17-foot Texas School Book Depository sign is on display. The sign originally hung on the building in the ‘60s and has been in storage for more than 30 years, making this the first time it has been seen publicly since the late ‘70s.

Liza Collins, public relations and the museum’s advertising manager, said it’s a great place for people of all ages to come and experience.

“The best thing about the museum is that this is where history took place,” she said.

Follow Jason on Twitter: @jbshorthorn

Alta-Aurelia students study Kennedy assassination onsite

By Dan Whitney, Staff Writer

left to right - Molly McDaniel, James Curbow, Joseph Coll, Kaitlin Brake, chaperone Keila Glienke and Chayce Glienke enjoyed their educational visit to Dallas, Texas in November. They are shown here in front of the former School Book Depository, which now houses a permanent museum on the 6th Floor. Photo contributed.

Dave Curbow has been an educator in the Alta (now Alta-Aurelia) High School for several years now, teaching primarily English and Creative Writing, but he also teaches a cIass called Critical Thinking - which is definitely not a class from the "old days," when you and I were in school.

The Critical Thinking class encourages its students to do just that - to seriously THINK about subjects, looking at them from all angles and points of view and making informed choices on what to believe.

One of the subjects in the class is the November 22,1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas. Curbow says he uses the Kennedy assassination as a class topic because of the distinct positions that have developed between those who believe it was the act of Lee Harvey Oswald alone and those who believe it was a conspiracy. And because there is so much written on it,Curbow says, the information can be easily accessed by the students.

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JFK Assassination Logic: Evaluating Conflicting Evidence with John McAdams and Gary Mack

Join Marquette University political scientist Dr. John McAdams Saturday, December 10, 2011, at 2 p.m. as he addresses how to think, reason and understand conspiracy theories about the Kennedy assassination at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.

Dr. McAdams has published more than 20 articles in scholarly journals on subjects as diverse as voting behavior in congressional elections, campaign finance, social class and politics, the death penalty and racial disparity in incarceration. For the past 15 years, he has taught a course on the assassination to upper-division Marquette undergraduates and run the Kennedy Assassination Home Page, a website author and former prosecutor and Vince Bugliosi has called “the premier JFK assassination Web site, clearly superior in depth and scholarship to that of his peers.” Dr. McAdams lives in Shorewood, Wisconsin.

Museum Curator Gary Mack moderates the conversation with Dr. McAdams, which will provide a blueprint for understanding why conspiracy theories arise and how to evaluate their often contradictory claims.

Following the program, Dr. McAdams will sign copies of his new book, JFK Assassination Logic: How to Think about Claims of Conspiracy. Visit jfk.org for further details.

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1964 FBI Reenactment - Malcolm.E.Barker Slide compilation. 24/5/64

Photographic slide of the FBI/Secret Service reenactment of the Kennedy assassination in Dealey Plaza on May 24, 1964. The car representing the president's limousine heads west on Elm Street, toward the triple underpass.

The car used to represent the president's limousine in the reenactment was actually the Secret Service car that had been directly behind the presidential limousine in the motorcade on November 22, 1963.

The driver in this picture, Secret Service agent George Hickey, rode in the follow-up car at the time of the assassination.

The north side of Dealey Plaza is visible to the right. Signs directing traffic to Stemmons Freeway and other highway signs line the right side of the road.

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On November 22, 1963, the Texas School Book Depository building was the focus of world shock, grief, and outrage when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dealey Plaza. Twenty-six years later, John F. Kennedy and the Memory of a Nation opened on the building's sixth floor, where significant evidence was found. Using nearly 400 photographs, 45 minutes of documentary films, and artifacts, this exhibition recreates the social and political context of the early 1960s, chronicles the assassination and its aftermath, and recognizes Kennedy's lasting impact on American culture.

http://www.jfk.org/go/home

1964 FBI Reenactment - Malcolm.E.Barker Slide compilation.

Photographic slide of the FBI/Secret Service reenactment of the Kennedy assassination in Dealey Plaza on May 24, 1964. The car representing the president's limousine heads west on Elm Street, toward the triple underpass.

The car used to represent the president's limousine in the reenactment was actually the Secret Service car that had been directly behind the presidential limousine in the motorcade on November 22, 1963.

The driver in this picture, Secret Service agent George Hickey, rode in the follow-up car at the time of the assassination.

The north side of Dealey Plaza is visible to the right. Signs directing traffic to Stemmons Freeway and other highway signs line the right side of the road.

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On November 22, 1963, the Texas School Book Depository building was the focus of world shock, grief, and outrage when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dealey Plaza. Twenty-six years later, John F. Kennedy and the Memory of a Nation opened on the building's sixth floor, where significant evidence was found. Using nearly 400 photographs, 45 minutes of documentary films, and artifacts, this exhibition recreates the social and political context of the early 1960s, chronicles the assassination and its aftermath, and recognizes Kennedy's lasting impact on American culture.

http://www.jfk.org/go/home

SIXTH STREET MUSEUM SPECIAL EVENT

SIXTH FLOOR MUSEUM ANNOUNCES SERIES OF EVENTS TO OBSERVE KENNEDY ASSASSINATION ANNIVERSARY

The Museum will open at 10 a.m. Monday, November 22, 2010. Saturday, November 20 - 2 p.m.

Q&A and Book Signing with Clint Hill, Jerry Blaine and Lisa McCubbin Moderated by Museum Curator Gary Mack THE KENNEDY DETAIL JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence By Gerald Blaine with Lisa McCubbin Foreword by Clint Hill

After nearly 50 years under a "Code of Silence," many of the Secret Service agents serving on President Kennedy's detail when he was assassinated are speaking out. "The Kennedy Detail" (Gallery Books; November 2, 2010) is the only authoritative account of the events of that day from the men who were there to guard the president's life. Clint Hill, the agent who jumped on the back of the car immediately after the shooting and helped Jackie to her seat, has rarely contributed to any works on the assassination, until now. Program is free but seating reservations are required. To reserve your seat, email programs@jfk.org or call 214.747.6660. Museum parking is $5.

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On November 22, 1963, the Texas School Book Depository building was the focus of world shock, grief, and outrage when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dealey Plaza. Twenty-six years later, John F. Kennedy and the Memory of a Nation opened on the building's sixth floor, where significant evidence was found. Using nearly 400 photographs, 45 minutes of documentary films, and artifacts, this exhibition recreates the social and political context of the early 1960s, chronicles the assassination and its aftermath, and recognizes Kennedy's lasting impact on American culture.

http://www.jfk.org/go/home

Dallas Art News Announces The Kennedy Detail SPECIAL EVENT November 20, 2010 at 2:00 p.m

After Nearly Fifty Years Under Code of Silence, JFK Secret Service Agents Speak Out in New Book

THE KENNEDY DETAIL: JFK’s Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence

By Gerald Blaine with Lisa McCubbin
Foreword by Clint Hill

In THE KENNEDY DETAIL: JFK’S Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Gallery Books; November 2, 2010; $28.00), Jerry Blaine – one of thirty-four Secret Service agents on President Kennedy’s detail when he was assassinated – sets history straight on what really happened that afternoon and in the months leading up to and following the tragedy. Written with award-winning journalist Lisa McCubbin, this insider account includes contributions from many of the Secret Service agents who were serving on the Kennedy Detail, and draws upon their daily reports, expense accounts, personal notes, and vivid recollections.

Clint Hill, the agent who jumped on the back of the car immediately after the shooting and helped Jackie back down into her seat, has rarely contributed to any works on the assassination, until now. As Hill writes in the Foreword, “I don’t talk to anybody about that day…It is only because of my complete faith and trust that Jerry Blaine would tell our story with dignity and unwavering honesty that I agreed to be involved.”

THE KENNEDY DETAIL is the only authoritative account of the events of that day from the men, like Clint Hill, who were there to guard the president’s life.

As Blaine writes, “Every man on the Kennedy Detail would re-live those six seconds in Dallas a million times over. For the rest of their lives, they would be defined by the assassination of JFK, questioned and blamed for failing to achieve the impossible.”

The Discovery Channel is producing a TV special based on The Kennedy Detail that airs in November and features rare footage from The Sixth Floor Museum’s collections.

The Sixth Floor Museum will host a free program with Jerry Blaine, Lisa McCubbin and Clint Hill on November 20, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. Museum Curator Gary Mack will moderate a program and Q&A session, followed by a book-signing. Books can be purchased at the Museum Store + Café for $28.00.

The program is free but advance seating reservations are required. To make your reservation or to purchase a copy of the book, e-mail programs@jfk.org or call 214-747-6623.

Museum parking is available for $5.00. Visit www.jfk.org for more information.

Special Event

Q&A with Jerry Blaine, Lisa McCubbin and Clint Hill
Moderated by Museum Curator Gary Mack
November 20, 2010 at 2:00 p.m.
The Sixth Floor Museum, 411 Elm Street, Dallas, TX, 75202

The Sixth Floor Museum

The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza chronicles the assassination and legacy of President John F. Kennedy; interprets and supports the Dealey Plaza National Historic Landmark District and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza; and presents contemporary culture within the context of presidential history. Located at 411 Elm Street in downtown Dallas, the Museum is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday–Sunday and 12 to 6 p.m. Monday. Audio guides for the permanent exhibit are available in seven languages, and a youth version is available in English. For more information, visit www.jfk.org or call 214-747-6660.